Apple Targets Online Inventory Tracker Website with DMCA Takedown

Well, that was fun while it lasted: The developer of an inventory tracking website for Apple's latest devices has been slapped with a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice from the overlords in Cupertino.

Apple-Tracker.com announced Wednesday that it will be shutting down its convenient online tracking website after receiving a DMCA takedown notice from Apple, which can be read online in its entirety.

The brainchild of developer Mordy Tikotzky, Apple-Tracker.com made it easy to find the latest iPhone 5s and iPad Air models just by typing in a ZIP code and seeing which Apple retail stores in the area had stock available. But apparently, it was doing its job a little too well.

"I've deciced to turn off the site," Tikotzky writes. "I'm not doing this because I want to, but rather because I received a DMCA takedown notice from Apple. I'm not really interested in picking a fight with Apple so... I guess it's time to just say good bye."

Tikotzky posted the full text of Apple's DMCA takedown request on the website, which claims the developer's scraping of Apple's online store data was against Cupertino's terms of use.

Apple has already made it clear that iPad mini with Retina Display stock will be constrained when it's released later this month, so the timing of the takedown notice appears to be Cupertino's way of leveling the playing field ahead of that product launch.